Five months into the conflict, there's still no end in sight.
 | By Yara Bayoumy World and National Security Editor, Opinion |
For many Americans, their shock over the horrors of the war in Ukraine may no longer be quite so acute five months after Russia's invasion. For Ukrainians, though, every day brings more deaths and destruction and heightens their fear of losing their country as Vladimir Putin shows no sign of ending his onslaught. |
On the geopolitical front, the debate over the conflict has coalesced around a central question: To what extent should the United States and Europe keep arming Ukraine, and to what end? At Times Opinion, we wanted to reflect on the different responses to that question. |
Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, argues in a guest essay that "military assistance to Ukraine is not charity" because nothing less than Europe's future is at stake. He urges the West to speed up "deliveries of advanced artillery pieces and armored vehicles" as well as increase financial assistance and strengthen sanctions on Russia. |
"The truth is simple," according to Kuleba: "Mr. Putin will not stop until he is stopped. That's why calls for a cease-fire, audible across Europe and America, are badly misplaced. This is not the time to accept unfavorable cease-fire proposals or peace deals." |
The foreign minister is no doubt worried that assistance will dry up as the war grinds on. So far, the United States, European partners and others have pledged billions in military aid to Ukraine. That still falls short of the Ukrainian government's wishes. The reason is that, as the foreign policy analysts Samuel Charap and Jeremy Shapiro argue in a guest essay, Western leaders are pulled in two directions: "They are committed to helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia's aggression, but they are also trying to prevent the conflict from escalating into a major-power war." |
But that logic is faulty, they say, because escalation is already happening. |
"The West is providing more and more powerful weapons, and Russia is unleashing more and more death and destruction. For as long as both Russia and the West are determined to prevail over the other in Ukraine and prepared to devote their deep reserves of weapons to achieve that goal, further escalation seems almost preordained," Charap and Shapiro write. |
Contrary to Kuleba's view, they argue that, along with continuing to provide Ukraine with military support, the United States and its allies should also open channels of communication with Russia to reach an eventual cease-fire. Yes, it's politically risky and the path is uncertain, but they say that "talking can reveal the possible space for compromise and identify a way out of the spiral." |
There are no easy answers. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are dying. |
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